noob recording question #1: stereo or mono for guitar

H

Hank

Member
So I downloaded Reaper and have it installed and everything hooked up. My question is: do people generally record guitar mono, or stereo to one track, or stereo with each channel to it's own track, or what? Is it different for hi-gain electric vs clean electric? Does it depend on what effects are being used?

At this point, I'm not interested in reamping or recording dry - one baby step at a time! I want to record what I hear. My highest "priority" is hi-gain and then second is clean.
 
I use Reaper, and I usually record guitar to a stereo track, especially cleans. Occasionally, I'll record a lead track to mono, just to make it easier to set the soundstage during mixing. But Reaper makes it easy to deal with space even with stereo tracks, so I usually record to stereo tracks. I have not found any need to record to two distinct mono tracks for L and R (and if you desire, you can split your stereo track in Reaper).
 
Typically I just record mono, but I usually record dry. Recording in stereo would just give me the same result but with more HDD space being used up. If for some reason I'm recording with FX on, and they happen to be stereo FX, I'll of course record the parts in stereo.
 
I record in stero both clean and dirty. Solo are recorded in stereo but paying a great attention to the stereo image that I create.
 
thanks guys. That helps. I guess I'll go ahead and record in stereo to one track and see how it goes. One baby step at a time...
 
I have a question: you guys talk about recording in stereo, does that mean recording two mono tracks in one take (like recording an acoustic with 2 mics), and then panning, or does that mean recording one stereo track (say the effects are in stereo), in which case the panning is presumably fixed?
 
A lot of people try to mix it up so that there are a few stereo tracks in their mixes and a few mono.. however, it's all personal preference! I always do distorted rhythm guitars in stereo.
 
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